Record transit ridership in Metro Vancouver last month

Oct 18 2017, 8:05 am

Public transit ridership in Metro Vancouver continues to soar, according to the newest figures provided by TransLink.

Ridership is on pace for another record-breaking year, which has so far included a record-breaking month.

September 2017 experienced 36 million transit boardings, making it the biggest month for ridership since the city held the Winter Olympics in February 2010.

Here are the ridership figures for last month, compared to the same period last year:

  • Bus
    • September 2016 boardings: 21.3 million
    • September 2017 boardings: 22 million
    • Change: + 3.4%
  • SkyTrain Expo/Millennium Line
    • September 2016 boardings: 8.3 million
    • September 2017 boardings: 9.2 million
    • Change: +10.6%
  • SkyTrain Canada Line
    • September 2016 boardings: 3.9 million
    • September 2017 boardings: 4.0 million
    • Change: +4.6%
  • SeaBus
    • September 2016 boardings: 0.48 million
    • September 2017 boardings: 0.51 million
    • Change: +6.1%
  • West Coast Express
    • September 2016 boardings: 0.21 million
    • September 2017 boardings: 0.19 million
    • Change: -10.4%

Only the West Coast Express saw a decline in ridership, which has seen lower ridership since the December 2016 opening of the Millennium Line’s Evergreen extension.

But overall, ridership is surging, and TransLink is focused on utilizing its existing fleets in the most efficient way while also introducing and expanding with new services.

“So far, it shows us that the Phase One investment plan and even before that, all the network changes that we made in 2016, were well thought out and they were using the data that we’ve seen before to match where demand is,” Geoff Cross, the Vice-President of Planning and Policy at TransLink, told Daily Hive earlier this year.

TransLink attributes ridership growth to increased transit services, a strong regional economy, high fuel prices, and stable transit fares.

Over 306 million boardings have been recorded this year to date, and the public transit authority expects to surpass 400 million boardings by the end of the year.

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